Under Hinata's Skin
by meeiwen
Summary: A partly failed mission caused Naruto and Hinata to switch bodies. The curse can be easily lifted. It's just that, the person who can do it had his head shredded to pieces... by Naruto himself.
1. Good Morning, Hinata-sama

He punched, stabbed, and rasengan-ed that same face about ninety-six times.

"97." Naruto said as the enemy's shadow clone disappeared with a cloud of smoke. That 'poof' sound had never been more irritating, and it seemed that he would be hearing a lot more of it.

"100!" He said, as three more clones dispersed after a direct hit of rasengan to their guts, the sudden painful prick in his chest completely disregarded.

A hundred defeated, but none of them was the real enemy. Naruto's team had been held off for too long.

"This is ridiculous!" Naruto heard Tenten, who was just several feet away from him, looking pretty exhausted fighting two clones on a hand-to-hand combat. The bandage on her left arm was soaked in blood again. "I've never seen anyone with so much shadow clones, aside from you, Naruto. What the hell are we up against with?" She unrolled one of her few remaining scrolls, and hundreds of kunai rained down her enemies, defeating twenty shadow clones with a deadly accuracy.

"Tenten-san, you're arm!" Sakura exclaimed. "Hinata, how many more left?" She sprang up and landed on a clone's shoulder, her strong arms twisting its neck three-hundred and sixty degrees.

"Only a hundred more." Hinata answered. The veins around her eyes distinct with the Byakugan activated. "I don't mean to rush everyone, but he's running faster than before. He's only eight kilometers away, heading north, but I might lose sight of him if we don't hurry."

"How do you know he's not a clone?" Sakura managed to say in between kicks and punches, both so powerful, the ground shook with the impact.

"I don't. But he has our scrolls. All of it."

Naruto clicked his tongue in frustration. If he could just use his own Multiple Shadow Clone Technique or any other techniques. But he was already pretty beat even with just one shadow clone used. It was only his stubborn nature to not give up that he was able to keep up with the chase and fights. Sakura said it was possible that he would just drop dead and die if he tried. Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Don't even try, Naruto!" Sakura saw him attempting to form the seal with his hands. "How many times do I have to tell you? Your chakra is still unstable. Who knows what will happen if you divide it further into several clones? One clone is enough!"

"Sakura-san is right, Naruto-kun." Hinata glanced over to the only male ninja in the group. "The way I see your chakra system, any other form of jutsu might be dangerous. Your chakra flow is very… irregular." And 'irregular' was an understatement. In fact, she could see his chakra slowly draining, and it worried her. She had to do something before Naruto could try something drastic and hurt himself.

Naruto groaned. "This is so damn annoying! Hey, Kurama, wake the hell up, and fix my chakra flow or something!" But Naruto didn't get any response. He hadn't realized how powerful and deadly the kinjutsu was, until summoning three clones made his insides hurt like hell. He would have died, if not for Hinata's knowledge of chakra points and Sakura's medical jutsus. Knowing that the Leaf's stolen kinjutsu scrolls could be used by the enemy however he liked it just made Naruto even sicker. They have to capture him fast, but the enemy's hundred shadow clones and summoned creatures were obviously not helping. "Argh! I don't care anymore! We have to get to him before he reaches the border." Naruto positioned his hands to form a seal.

"No, Naruto!" Sakura tried to reach for him, but a giant modified clone grabbed her by the neck and threw her aimlessly, making her crash against the weapon expert.

"We have to get the scrolls back." Naruto reasoned. They had to get this over and done with, or else the thief would get away. If he ever passed out, he knew that Sakura, Tenten, and Hinata could continue the mission without him. "Hinata, you might need to juken my chakra points again later."

He was only a few hand seals away from completing the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique but he stopped, sensing something wrong. "Hinata?"

But she was gone. 

ooxXxoo

He slowed down upon reaching the misted forest two kilometers away from the border. He cursed under his breath. He couldn't slow down now, not when Leaf Ninja's were on his trail. Sensing the serum's effect wearing off, he made one big lofty jump and hid behind one of the biggest trees nearby.

Good thing he had spares.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a glass syringe. Its needle was just a few centimeters away from his skin, when the glass suddenly burst, spilling its thick red content to the ground.

He instinctively rolled over to his side, and water needles pierced through the tree trunk where his head was once resting.

"Oh sh-!"

He didn't even have the time to finish that short of a phrase, for two large chakra shrouds shaped like a lion were aimed directly to his face. He quickly blocked Hinata's Gentle Step Twin Lion Fists with his muscled arms, but he was still sent flying back with the strong force of her chakra.

"Give me back the scrolls." Hinata demanded.

The enemy just answered her with an evil smirk. "Alone, eh? That's too careless of you." The tentacles around his mouth moved on its own, delighted by the sight of Hinata's precious eyes.

Hinata had to admit that it was a rather careless, if not stupid, idea to chase the enemy alone, but she had to do something, or else Naruto could damage himself beyond repair. She could track the enemy down with her Byakugan. Maybe she could also slow him down.

And maybe, she could make him undo the kinjutsu, too.

"I know I can take you down alone." Veins around Hinata's eyes became more prominent than before, reflecting how serious she was with her words. She assumed the Gentle Fist position, ready to attack the enemy.

"You think I'm going to fight you head on? I've seen that move before." And he had also seen that he was a no match for it, learning from the numerous shadow clones she incapacitated with her bare hands. Good thing he knew exactly what to do about it.

"Wha-?" Hinata watched in surprise as black fumes started to belch out from the enemy's facial tentacles. Its hue mixed with the mist, covering the entire forest in total darkness. She reactivated her Byakugan and was slightly shaken when she couldn't see anything despite her "All Seeing White Eye".

"Don't waste your time, missy. Your Byakugan won't work on my black fumes. Now, how about we finish this now? I don't have all day." The enemy attacked Hinata with a poisoned kunai on his right hand.

"Me, neither." Hinata said more confident than ever. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes to concentrate. She couldn't see, but she could hear very well. The rustling of leaves. The flapping wings of Sparrows flying to escape the fumes. And especially, him, running directly to her on her six. "Gentle Fist: Sixty Four Palms. Two Palms!"

Despite not seeing anything at all, she activated her Byakugan and landed her fingers accurately to the enemy's chakra points.

"This isn't the first time that I've been blinded." She remembered how her harsh trainings with Neji would always make her lose her eyesight temporarily. Sparring with her eyes closed wasn't that bad afterall.

"Wait!"

"Sixteen Palms!"

"If you kill me-"

"Thirty Two Palms!"

"Fox-boy will die with me."

"Sixty-" Hinata stopped before completing the blow that could have ended it all. "What did you say?" Worry evident in her features.

Octopus-mouth spit out blood, and he staggered as he tried to maintain his balance. "I'll burn this scroll, if you try attacking me again. In that case, you can never undo the curse." He tightened his grasp on the curse scroll he retrieved deep from his throat, his battered form seen as the fumes started to dissipate. He grinned, happy that his words affected her the way he wanted to.

"Hmm, don't tell me that is what you're really after." He played with the scroll in his hands. "Say, why don't we make a deal?" A cocky smile spread across his face. "Give me your Byakugan, and I'll lift the curse from your boyfriend."

Such statements would normally put red tints on her cheeks, but not this time. She knew she could get that scroll without the compromise. "I'm sorry, but I don't deal with the likes of you." Her voice cold and words, emphasized.

"Tch. You're making things difficult. I told you I don't have all day." He recovered the last glass syringe from his pocket and immediately sank its sharp needle through his right leg.

Hinata was stunned at the sudden change in his chakra reserves. His red eyes and dark chakra waves told her she would be in deep trouble.

"Eight Trigrams: Sixty Four Palms."

They exchanged blows, but her Gentle Fist didn't seem to affect him the way they did a few minutes ago. She was pushed back by a series of punches to her torso, and before she knew it, a large hand grabbed her face and lifted her up until her feet could no longer feel the ground. She tried to escape his grip by pressing chakra points in his arms, but her attacks did nothing to the scales that covered this skin. His hand was crushing her skull. She thought her eyes were going to pop out.

"My brothers are waiting. Sorry, we just have to play next time. If there would be any next time." He opened his mouth wide and liquid poison dripped from his sharp spear-like tongue.

Images of Naruto appeared in her mind as he thrust his poisonous tongue into her stomach.

Hinata felt a sharp pain in her gut, as he slowly pulled his tongue out. Her eyes suddenly felt heavy, and she could taste metal in her mouth. He then loosened his grip, making her subject to the force of gravity. How she managed to steal the curse scroll from the thief's hand was also something she couldn't explain herself. She just waited for her limp body to hit the earth slightly moistened with her own blood.

But it didn't happen.

Instead, two strong arms grabbed her in a tight embrace and their bodies rolled away fast from the enemy. She inhaled deeply, and she instantly recognized the faint scent of amberwood mixed with sweat and blood.

"Hinata! Hey, Hinata!" Panic, worry, and distress all distinct in his voice. Hinata tried to open her eyes, but the poison created havoc on her nervous system that her body couldn't move anything voluntary. In a few minutes, maybe her heart and lungs would start losing its functions, too.

"What on earth were you thinking?!" Naruto's chest throbbed even more painfully upon recognizing the object she held tightly in her hands. "You really should stop doing things like this for me." Panic. Worry. Distress. Anguish.

She was on the brink of losing consciousness, but for a short while, Hinata felt his arms tightened around her, like he was afraid to lose her.

"Hinata!" Sakura arrived to where Naruto took Hinata seconds later. She briefly assessed her unconscious teammate and concluded, "Poison." She felt Naruto tensed, his fury becoming more and more uncontainable. She could stop the bleeding, but she wasn't too sure she had enough chakra left to extract the poison. "Lay her down on the ground, Naruto." And he complied. Her hands glowed with chakra tending Hinata's wounds. From afar, they could hear clashes of metal as Tenten continued to fight Octopus-mouth.

"Will she make it?" The question came out almost as a whisper, afraid of knowing the answer. But he knew she would. She had to. How could he thank her later if she... His thoughts stopped dead in its tracks. There's no way in hell he could let that happen.

"I'll do my best, Naruto." She mustered all confidence from her head to toe, trying to hide the uncertainty threatening to reflect in her eyes. "But if we could send her fast to Tsunade-sama..." Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she concentrated to heal Hinata. As Naruto was about to leave to join Tenten, she called to him once more. "Wait, Naruto!"

He stopped midstep but didn't look back.

"Just two clones, and that's it." She continued.

Sakura saw him nod, but she knew better. She just gritted her teeth and prayed that he wouldn't do anything stupid.

ooxXxoo

Naruto caught Tenten just in time, after being forcefully thrown by the enemy's shadow clone in steroids. If he were seconds late, she sure would hit her head to a boulder.

"Sorry, I'm late, Tenten! Are you alright?"

"Don't worry about me. I still can fight. Just worry about squid-face over there. He's getting tougher. I mean literally." Tenten pointed to the direction of the enemy, covered by a cloud of dust arising from several weapons hitting the ground. "His body's now covered with scales, and some of my weapons could not go through his defense. I managed to cut a few of his tentacles, though. And by the way, his tongue's poisonous, too. Man, this guy's really troublesome."

"Okay, got it! Let's bring this squid down fast!" He answered.

"How's Hinata?" Tenten asked, but she didn't get any response. "Don't worry, she'll be fine. Sakura's with her." She tried to reassure him. "Now how do we beat this guy?"

They alerted as the enemy stood once again, hardened scales around the enemy's torso sloughed off after being hit by Tenten's Twin Rising Dragons.

He pulled out a kunai slightly burrowed into his left clavicle, and purple liquid oozed out of the open wound. He could feel his arms shaking, and his chest tightened with every breath despite the serum shot. So the Byakugan did get him after all. 'This is bad. Damn that Hyuuga,' he thought. He had to get to the border now and bring his gang the sixteen scrolls he stole. Well, fifteen actually. He 'accidentally' dropped the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique scroll while escaping from the Hidden Leaf Ninjas. 'Ah. That's right, that's right,' he nodded inwardly to himself. He would just have to replace it with something even 'more' precious. Five days of running away would be all worth it. What he needed now was a perfect cover, and that girl with the cute buns was about to give him that.

Tenten unrolled her last remaining scroll. This would only be the second time she was going to use it, but that wouldn't be a problem. She was a weapon expert after all. She did the handseal and a large spiked metal ball appeared. She glanced over to her left and saw all three Narutos engaged in a fight with the enemy, his Rasengan barely scratching the enemy's much stronger defense. But they had pinned him down just as planned.

"Now!" The Jidanda flew off a few inches from the ground, as an explosive tag set off in Tenten's command. It soared higher and faster with more tags exploding one in every second, its course set to Naruto's direction.

"Naruto!" She called out to him. Naruto quickly jumped away and his clones dispersed just as Tenten dropped down the gigantic ball of explosive tags to the enemy.

It was a huge explosion, destroying the enemy's scale armor, as well as the surrounding trees, boulders, and creatures that happened to be unfortunately nearby. Sakura crouched over Hinata's body to cover her from the impact. Smoke and dust engulfed the entire area once again. And that wasn't the final blow, yet.

"Rasengan!"

From above, Naruto appeared through the cloud of smoke, his Rasengan ready to make contact to the enemy's now bare chest.

"Don't hit him too hard! We need him alive!" Naruto could hear Tenten from afar.

"I know, I know!" Naruto answered, but he couldn't promise that. He shoved his Rasengan to the enemy that sent the man flying feet away.

Tenten reached Naruto's side, and they both gasped when they saw a block of wood falling to the spot where the enemy's body should have landed. The log rolled on its side and Tenten and Naruto saw the biggest explosive tag they had ever seen in their entire lives.

OooxXxooo

There was another huge explosion from afar, and it worried her.

'Naruto. Tenten-san.'

Her vision started to blur from exhaustion and low chakra, but Sakura had no time to rest. She knew they wouldn't make it in time, so she tried extracting the poison herself, and it was so damn hard!

"Hang in there, Hinata. Don't give up on me yet."

She lightly placed her shaking fingers over Hinata's jugular. She cursed under her breath upon feeling the weakening pulse. She stiffened when she felt the enemy's chakra nearby. She looked around but she couldn't find him.

"Where the hell are you?!" She looked up and found nothing.

It was all good instincts that she was able to dodge in a split second the enemy's attack from below, but the enemy caught her ankle and crushed her bones just before she could escape. She let out an agonizing scream as the enemy carried her by her crushed ankle and hurled her across the area. Slamming her head on a nearby tree rendered her unconscious.

"Sorry, pinky, but I need something from your friend here." Octopus-mouth said, talking about the unconscious Hinata lying on the ground. He was already exhausted, too. Traveling to a distance after a Body Switch Technique was already suicide. Deciding he wouldn't be able to carry a limp body, he kneeled down, ready to extract the last thing he needed before he escaped.

Even before his fingers touched the smooth skin of her cheeks, something hit him from behind, and blood gushed out from his mouth.

He turned his head around and met furious eyes of a wild beast.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Naruto thrust another Rasenshuriken to his enemy's spine, throwing Octopus-mouth half a kilometer away from Hinata. The blood trickling down his lips was left completely ignored.

"Naruto," Tenten stopped to catch her breath. Naruto ran so fast, she could barely follow. "Calm down!" But she realized she was already too late as three-dozen Narutos charged towards the enemy, twelve of which with a Rasenshuriken in their hands.

The Octopus guy looked like a deer caught in the headlights. "T-this is impossible! Your chakra should be drained by now!" Fear overwhelmed him as all Narutos continued to rush towards his direction. One hand rummaged at his back-pocket and hastily unrolled a random scroll he fished with his hand. He successfully performed the last handseal, when twelve Rashenshurikens mercilessly detached his head from his neck.

Just as all his clones dispersed, Naruto coughed out blood and fell face first to the ground.

OooxXxooo

He opened his eyes like he hadn't opened them for years, and the room's white walls and ceiling did nothing to steady his vision at all. He pulled the white blanket up to his face and closed his eyes once again. He took a deep breath and smelled the gentle scent of a high-class fabric.

'Is this heaven?' Naruto pondered.

He heard something then, like someone standing up from a chair, and sat on the edge of his bed. Naruto removed the fabric from his face and was surprised to see Neji. His expression worried and relieved at the same time.

'Okay, so this really is the afterlife,' he concluded. 'They say even kangaroos could grow wings in heaven.' He unconsciously smiled at his own joke. Neji noticed and gently smiled back. 'Creepy.' he thought.

"Are you feeling well?" Neji finally spoke.

Naruto felt his throat dry, so he just nodded in response.

"That's good. I'll inform the nurse immediately." Neji gave him another warm smile. He gently stood up from the bed and pushed aside the window curtains as he greeted him, "Good morning, Hinata-sama".


	2. Melons!

Authors Note: I would like to thank all those who reviewed, followed, and added this story to their favorites. :)

I do not own Naruto.

* * *

2: Melons!

Neji left the room slightly astonished.

Raising the curtains aside, he partly opened the glass window to let some cool air in. He turned to leave for the nurse station soon after he placed the bed tray over Hinata's lap, sure that she was conscious enough to eat, so she could start her very first meal for the whole five days. As he pulled the door close, his cousin spoke for the very first time that day and said, "Thanks, Neji." He just couldn't figure out which one required his utmost concern- her idiotic grin, the peace sign, or the fact that the polite Hinata suddenly forgot her honorifics.

'She must have hit her head too hard. Poor Hinata-sama,' he mumbled.

He also shrugged off the thought that her stupid grin looked awfully familiar.

* * *

oooxXxooo

'This is delicious!' Naruto said to himself as he took a spoonful of what he thought as the best hospital food ever. 'Is that shrimp?' He guessed as he checked out the contents of his food.

_'Good morning, Hinata-sama.'_

The words disappeared as quickly as it crossed his mind. Naruto continued to savor the rich taste of mixed mushroom broth and seafood. 'I can definitely feel things, so that means I didn't die.' He thought as he chewed on a small piece of asparagus.

But Neji's voice inside his head continued indistinctly, like a ghost calling from afar.

_'Are you feeling well?'_

'Neji said the others are doing fine. I'll go check out on them later. Especially, Hinata.' He stopped eating as he recalled his last few images of Hinata before he had passed out. He gripped the spoon tighter knowing that she risked her life again for him.

_'Good morning-' _The voice inside his head was getting louder.

"Hinata.. I hope she's okay." He uttered.

_'Hinata-'_

"Wait." Eyes wide with bewilderment, Naruto said out loud to no one in particular.

_'- sama.'_

"Did Neji just call me 'Hinata-sama'?!" He abruptly covered his mouth realizing how sweet and soft-spoken his voice was.

His heart beat faster, and he could feel his palm sweating. He looked at the spoon he was holding and noticed his new set of long slender fingers. And how come he didn't notice sooner that he had fringe just above his eyes? He held the silver spoon firmly, slowly, close to his face. He forgot to breathe when he saw his upside-down reflection- pale skin, white eyes, dark blue hair.

"Are you kidding me?"

He got up from his bed and walked a little unsteadily heading to a door to what seemed to be the bathroom. He opened the door and got inside, where he was greeted by a full length mirror, his reflection showing someone else's face.

Naruto pulled his incredibly soft cheeks apart. "No way." He tugged on his long dark hair and was sure it wasn't artificial hair. "No way!" One hand anxiously groped down to feel his crotch...

...and found it 'empty'. "No waaayyy!" He held on to the towel rail to make sure he wouldn't pass out because of despair. "My... my... It's gone!" He said as he sniffed back imaginary tears.

"Am I really in Hinata's body?" He took a deep breath and examined himself closely. 'Such a nice skin,' he thought. He lifted his arms, bent sideways, and jumped- his new body was moving perfectly according to what he desired. "Oh my god, I am Hinata! B-but how?" He stuttered just like Hinata, too. He turned his head sideways to inspect faintly bruised neck, then his gaze slowly moved down to his bulging chest. He swallowed hard and sheepishly looked around to make sure no one's watching. 'Well.. I'm.. umm, just making sure.' He nervously grabbed the neckline of his hospital gown, completely unaware of the two figures that entered the room. 'Just a little more..' He bowed his head down lower and saw...

"Melons!"

"Gaaaahhhh!" Naruto shrieked as he heard someone shouted from behind. Naruto was too occupied exploring his new body that he didn't notice Kiba and Shino entered his hospital suite and headed to the bathroom when the Hinata they were looking for was not on her bed.

"I didn't see anything! I didn't see everything! I'm sorry!" Naruto was shouting frantically.

"What do you mean? Here, I brought you melons, Hinata." Kiba raised the bag holding two round melons. "How are you feeling?"

Naruto grabbed Kiba's shoulders and looked straight to his eyes. "Kiba! You got to help me!"

"Huh? Hey, calm down. Didn't you just wake up? You should be resting, Hinata." He gently put the arms down, surprised that the 'kun' after his name was missing and that Hinata was uncharacteristically aggressive. He glanced over to Shino as if asking for help.

"He's right, Hinata. You haven't fully recovered-" Shino said, but he was immediately cut-off.

"No! I woke up and I'm in this body! My real body- it's missing! You got to help me find it!" Naruto said, not even thinking if asking Kiba was a good idea.

"Y-your body?" Kiba sounded surprised. "Aren't you just looking at it so pervertedly a while ago?" It was supposed to be an innocent joke, but to Naruto, it was like hitting the nail on the head, and his face turned red.

"N-n-n-o, I wasn't!" Naruto said furiously.

Kiba laughed at how 'Hinata' blushed and stuttered just like she used to, not knowing the reality of the situation.

"Stop laughing, you shit! I'm serious! I got to find my real body!"

'S-shit?' Kiba blinked twice, thrice, or maybe more, not sure if the word really came out from his friend's mouth. He glanced over to Shino once again and saw him just as surprised. "A-alright..?"

Sure that he had Kiba and Shino's attention now, Naruto continued. "Okay, first we have to find Hinata!" He walked around the room looking for some clothes to get changed to, while Shino and Kiba just looked at him dumbfounded.

"Did you hit your head too hard? You are Hinata!" Kiba exclaimed, but he still sniffed Naruto behind his back once again just to be sure. "Yeah, you are Hinata!"

"I told you, dog-breath! When I woke up, I'm in Hinata's body-"

'Dog-breath?!' Kiba's eyebrows twitched, and he felt his blood boil.

"I'm Naruto-" Naruto bent down to pick up a lavender jacket and when he turned to face Kiba, the dog-user was already half-way through the air, sharp teeth and claws about to pounce on him.

Shino just silently watched them fight, his hands holding the two big melons near his chest. "I hate being ignored."

* * *

oooxXxooo

Neji knew well enough the depth of friendship Team Kurenai had. Shino, Hinata, and Kiba had known each other since the Academy, and the numerous times they had fought together during their genin days to present only made their bond grow stronger. He also knew that Kiba and Shino cared for Hinata just as much as he did, that was why when he entered Hinata's hospital suite, he couldn't understand the reason why his cousin was mummy-wrapped with a blanket, with Kiba's foot stepping over her to make sure she couldn't move. Shino was on the other side of the room eating melons by himself.

"So you are saying that you are Naruto?" Neji asked the person in front of him. Naruto was no longer wrapped with a blanket, but his hands were still tied behind his back for "safety purposes". Naruto only nodded his head, tired of his previous brawl with Kiba. He was seated at the edge of his bed as the other three men in the room cross-examined him.

Neji activated his Byakugan and examined him. "But your chakra signature is definitely Hinata's, although a bit disrupted."

"She definitely smells like Hinata, too! I think this person is an impostor, or a white zetsu trying to confuse us." Kiba shouted.

"Calm down, Kiba. Being called dog-breath should not be a cause of irrational behavior." Shino calmly said.

"That has nothing to do with this!" Kiba said in defense.

"I don't know how it happened either, so don't try asking me. I woke up and I'm already like this! But I'm telling you, I'm Naruto!"

"You have to prove it, then, that you are Uzumaki Naruto." Neji crossed his arms.

Shino agreed. "That is a good plan."

"P-prove? How would I do that?"

"It would be a good start to tell something that you and I, or you and Kiba, or Shino, only know. Then we'll decide if you are telling the truth or not." Neji challenged him.

"What?! You guys expect me to know something like that?"

"Well, we need to know if you're telling us the truth!" Kiba said.

"Hmm, alright! I'll give it a try. Neji..." Naruto fixed his gaze to Neji, giving him a very serious look. The room became seriously quiet as the three interrogating ninjas anxiously waited for his answer.

"Neji.." Naruto repeated, which caused Neji to flinch unnoticeably. "You.. you have a mark on your forehead."

The silence ran for five seconds more, they heard crickets.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?! Everybody knows that!" Kiba was comically enraged, veins popping out on his forehead. He tried to grab Naruto but Neji stopped him.

"I couldn't think of anything else!" Naruto said while evading Kiba's hostile hands.

Neji only sighed at how stupid the answer was, but thought to himself that that kind of an answer was very much Naruto-like. "That's enough, Kiba. If he's telling the truth then that means it's still Hinata's body that you're going to hurt, and I can't let you do that. And you," His gaze focused on Naruto again. "If you do realize the gravity of the situation, then stop giving us foolish answers."

"Tch," was only Naruto's response. He was thinking of giving up and let destiny take its course, when his eyes glanced at the unexpressive face of Aburame Shino and decided to try one more time. "I'm sorry, Shino, but I don't have any other choice."

Shino didn't respond, but the slight shift in his stance showed that he had a bit of idea of what Naruto was about to do.

"You shouldn't fight! Neither of you should fight! My senses are that of a gold sniffing fox!(1)" Naruto started to sing and move his butt in a tune unfamiliar to everyone but Shino. He was about to sing some more when a bug 'accidentally' shoved its way to his throat. Naruto hacked, coughed, and gasped for breath while rolling uncontrollably on the bed.

"Hinata-sama!" Neji panicked.

"What the hell was that? Are we supposed to know that song, Shino?" Kiba didn't notice Shino's killing intent behind his glasses.

"That's Naruto alright." Shino concluded.

"Whoa! That fast?! How did you know?" Kiba asked, but Shino didn't bother to answer him.

"We should stop wasting time. You know why? Because I already found where Naruto's real body is."

"You did?!" Kiba and Naruto said in unison.

* * *

OooxXxooo

Shino's bug lead them to a room a couple doors away from Naruto's. The group was pretty surprised to see another familiar face open the door.

"Shikamaru?" Kiba asked surprised.

Shikamaru gave all four of them his signature lazy expression, then his gaze fell on Naruto. He looked at him head to toe as he invited them to come in. "Ugh, finally. What took you guys so long?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" Kiba asked again.

"I suppose you already know the situation. Where's Naruto?" Neji said, looking around the room.

Shikamaru leaned back on the closed door behind him, arms crossed on his chest. "If you're asking for his body, then it just actually went to the bathroom. Is that you, Naruto?" He asked, addressing the question to the Naruto inside Hinata's body.

"Whoa! That's Shikamaru for you, you dumb nuts!" Naruto blurted out, "How did you know?"

"I dropped by to check how you were doing and when entered the room, I found your body lying outside the bathroom door. When it woke up and talked, I just knew that the person I was with wasn't Naruto, or it could be Naruto with a severe head injury. And when you suddenly barged in, it came to me that one of you might be looking for your real body. Since you're the oddest one.." He studied Naruto again from head to foot- dark hair all over the place, stance that lacked the femininity and finesse of a Hinata Hyuuga, and that foul mouth.. Shikamaru sighed. "This is going to be very troublesome."

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Naruto said, his fists flying around.

"So, Hinata-sama, I mean, Naruto was telling us the truth then." Neji figured.

"This is crazy!" Kiba exclaimed. "How did this happen? Or more imporantly, where's the real Hinata?"

As if on cue, they heard a girlish scream from the bathroom, and Naruto's form came into view. Its face was blushing red, hands covering its cheeks. "N-Naruto-kun?" Its eyes were still fixed on the bathroom mirror when it suddenly passed out, its body lay just outside the bathroom door.

They only stood there for a moment with their mouths hanging open.

"T-That's definitely Hinata." Kiba's expression was of disbelief and awe.

Neji's was of pure pity. "Poor Hinata-sama..."

"That would be the fifth time." Shikamaru shook his head.

Sweatdrops formed on Naruto's forehead. "Uh, Hinata, if possible, I would like to get my body back in one piece."

* * *

oooxXxooo

Hinata sipped a cup of hot tea to calm her nerves down. The drink made her body warm, but her face only became warmer when she saw her reflection in the cup. 'I'm inside Naruto's body.' The thought made her pass out again, and she dropped the cup and all its hot content on her lap. She woke up wincing at the pain and wiped her hospital gown in a very prim and reserved manner.

The boys inside the room just watched her dumbfounded.

"I never thought I would see Naruto so... proper." Kiba's mouth was still left hanging open.

"Shut up!" Naruto snorted.

"How do you think this happened, Hinata-sama?" Neji asked.

"I-I'm sorry, but I really don't know. Last thing I remember was that I was fighting Octopus-san, something struck me, and I lost consciousness."

Naruto bit his lip and looked away. He was occupied with his own thought when Shikamaru called him.

"How about you, Naruto?"

He tried to concentrate, thinking of an answer. "I can't remember either. But I do remember using my Rasheshuriken multiple times before I passed out."

"Hmm. This is going to be difficult. But isn't this ninjutsu the same as the Yamanaka clan's Mind Body Switch Technique?" Neji said.

"This one is entirely different. The Mind Switch Body Technique deliberately possesses and controls someone, and the body of the user, most of the time, would be left unconscious. But judging from Naruto and Hinata's statements, none of them used a ninjutsu that caused the switch, and both of them are awake and responsive." Shikamaru responded with much knowledge about Ino's ninjutsu.

"What should we do then?" Kiba asked.

"We should ask someone who has a remarkable knowledge about ninjutsus and the human body. Why? Because-" Just before Shino could finish his statement, the door opened and a woman with hairbuns on both side of her head showed up.

"Naruto?" Tenten called. It confused her for a moment that both Naruto and Hinata answered 'yes' at the same time, but she just disregarded it, continuing on with the important message she's about to tell. "Oh, good thing you're both awake. Hokage-sama wants to see us."

* * *

1 from Naruto Episode 186: Laughing Shino


	3. She has worms

A/N: Thank you so much again for the wonderful reviews, follows, and favorites! I love them all! I'm sorry if it took me a while to update.

Dear Guest, yes this story is still in-progress. I planned to update every week, but my computer died last week, hence the late upload. Thank you very much for your patience. :)

I do not own Naruto.

3. She has… worms.

* * *

The bright sun generously showered its rays to the recovering village of Konoha. It was another peaceful day, and the villagers were once again working hand-in-hand to help rebuild their home. The dark days were over, and they could now peacefully enjoy the feel of cool summer breeze. Some children ran through the grass fields, catching dragonflies, while a few others gathered under the shade of a tall tree, listening as their sensei talked about the incredible heroes of Konoha. Above that tree was a nest where a small little bird was beginning to learn to fly. It jumped from a branch, flapping its little wings, and after a few tries, it soared up high in the sky, together with the other birds…

Only to lose its consciousness, as a dark enraged aura hit the poor little bird when it unfortunately passed by the Hokage's office window. It descended very fast from a high altitude, but was saved just in time by its loving mother's pair of wings, and the birds lived happily ever after.

'Oh, what a lovely day!'

Tsunade wished she could say so herself, but reading Tenten's report about their previous mission only promised one hell of a headache.

She read the report up to the last period, and she swore she heard a vein popping. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, and her fierce brown orbs landed on the two subjects that Tenten failed to mention on her report.

"I'm very sorry, Hokage-sama. I only found out this morning." Tenten bowed, quivering from Tsunade's scrutiny.

Konoha's fifth Hokage just waved it off and took a deep breath as she continued to massage her temples. Only eight out of sixteen scrolls retrieved- the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique scroll missing, and the others shredded to pieces by what Tenten described on her report as "countless small wind-blades", which on Tsunade's conclusion was just Naruto having his fit of severe cognitive deficiency.

About half of the ancient kinjutsu scrolls lost. A severely broken ankle. A ruptured deltoid muscle. A massive abdominal injury that required one whole day to fix. And as if these weren't enough, their only lead to a group of rouge ninjas was beheaded by one of her subordinates. All these things, then add the two casualties standing before her. Tsunade concluded the mission a failure. She could feel her blood boiling, and the anger radiating from her body was probably scaring those nearby, particularly, small birds. Just a little more raging chakra and the office walls would start to crumble.

"Take it easy, Tsunade-sama." Shizune smiled nervously.

Tsunade felt her head throb as she imagined herself in the hot seat, once she reported it to the Alliance, but she held the thought, for she had to address a problem quite more emergent and literally facing her.

'A body switch. Is this even possible?' A question she asked but knew the answer to. In fact, she fell for it once, when she was still a genin. He furrowed her brows, thinking of the possibility. 'Could it be...?!' She looked at Tenten's report again- sixteen scrolls were stolen, but she knew the archives had only stored fifteen. 'Impossible. How would that even get there? That scroll should've been burned years ago.'

"Shizune!" Tsunade called.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama?"

"Give me a list of all the scrolls stolen from the archives."

"Right away." And with that, Shizune left the room, but first, made a mental note to order a new office table and a few bags of cement for the walls.

Tsunade turned her attention to Naruto, who was staring at her with his new pair of pupil-less eyes. "Naruto!"

The call made him flinch. He met her cold stare and frowned, anticipating a day-long jeremiad from the Hokage. Or since he killed their supposed hostage, it could probably last for a week.

"Do you recall anything before you passed out?" Tsunade continued.

Neji asked a somewhat similar question before, and now that he thought about it, he remembered he was thinking. He was thinking about something. Or someone. He unconsciously reached for the tips of his long dark hair, his fingers enjoying the softness it felt on his touch. He glanced sideways to that certain someone and jolted when Hinata looked back at him with a soft blush on her face. "I remember.." But Naruto decided to skip that part for now. "I remember creating several shadow clones, and we," He gulped. "subdued the enemy with rashenshuriken."

"Subdued?" Tsunade spoke with clenched teeth. "You cut his stupid head off, Naruto."

"Yeah, that's what I'm trying to say." Naruto scoffed.

A loud thud caused by strong fists crashing against the surface of a wooden table made all four shinobis jump, and they all stepped back when Tsunade stood from her chair.

"Do you even realize what you've done? You totally screwed up the objectives of the assignment, you idiot!"

"What was I supposed to do then? He hurt Sakura. Tenten's out of weapons, too. That creep even tried to kidnap Hinata!" Naruto reasoned.

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura elbowed him gently, reminding him of who he was talking to but was hesitant to punch him in the beautiful face he was luckily wearing.

"Don't you know the word 'capture' or 'restrain'?" The wooden table creaked as a slight protest to the pressure Tsunade had put against it with her hands. She grabbed a book, a dictionary coincidentally, ready to throw it to Naruto's face, when Hinata suddenly spoke.

"Hokage-sama," Hinata bowed her head down as she continued. "Please.. It was all my fault. I was the one who deviated first from the team's plan, and all this resulted because I selfishly acted on my own. Please don't be so angry to Naruto-kun. He only thought of saving us. If there's someone that needs to be punished, it should be me."

"Hinata.." Tenten watched her with sad eyes. She made a quick glance to Naruto, who wore the same sad expression as Hinata tried to take the fall for him.

The room stayed quiet for a while as the Lady Hokage contemplated the situation and slumped back down into her chair. She let out a deep sigh and once again rubbed her temples. "Shinobis these days." But their generation was no better, so she decided to just let everything slide for now. It would be hard to explain how a possible lead to a group of thieves hunted by all nations suddenly died, but she would think about dealing with the Alliance later.

"You both know that this won't go unpunished." Her eyes darted back to Naruto upon hearing a loud 'hmpf' coming from him, but she just continued. "But I'll have you deal with that after you two fixed yourself. Now, to address another serious matter, do you remember anything important that could have lead to this?" Her expression continued to be stern.

The four shinobis stayed silent for a while thinking for an answer, until Tenten remembered a very faint memory of something that had happened during the fight.

"Hey, Naruto. Before you struck that man with your rashenshuriken, did you notice if he used another scroll? If my memory serves me right, I think I saw him unroll another one and perform a hand seal."

"Now that you mention it, yeah, I think I remember something like that happening. But he's dead, right? That means, if this is a kinjutsu, it should be reversed, since the person who casted it is already dead! Doesn't that explain why I'm still alive?" Naruto answered, talking about the dispelled Devouring Chakra curse.

"Not all jutsus work like that, Naruto." Sakura explained, remembering the things she learned from reading jutsu books as part of her training with Tsunade. "Some jutsus' effects stay even if the user is already dead, which I suppose is the case of this kinjutsu."

Tsunade's eyes were sharp as she listened to the conversation, which was interrupted for a moment when Shizune returned to the room and handed Tsunade the list she requested.

"Thank you, Shizune." Tsunade read through it, scanning the list thoroughly.

"Sorry, Tsunade-sama, but I have to go back to the archives to check Nana-san's blood pressure. I'll be back soon." Shizune left, seeing Tsunade nod.

Brown eyes continued to scan the list. They went wide, seeing something that should not be there. "It can't be.."

"W-What's wrong, granny?" Naruto noticed the surprise in her eyes. "Is it really serious?"

"That scroll should not be existing anymore." Tsunade found four pairs of eyes staring back at her with so much apprehension. "It should've been burned years ago."

"Then, why is it still here?!" Naruto asked.

"I am asking the same question myself."

"Can you tell us what kind of kinjutsu that was, Hokage-sama?" Sakura asked curiously.

"It's a nameless technique that switches the souls of two living bodies. It wasn't created as a kinjutsu to begin with. Its effects do not fall under the criteria for a kinjutsu, that's why I'm pretty surprised it was in the archives. It was originally created as a prank, so that the user of the jutsu can, well, 'take advantage' of his victims by switching bodies with them." The words emphasized to get the real meaning across.

"What kind of sick person would develop that kind of prank?" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and blushed as he felt how wonderfully soft his new body was. He crossed his arms tighter.

Tsunade watched Naruto's lewd expression with such disgust that she couldn't help but throw a paperweight aiming directly to his head. But he avoided it. 'Lucky bastard.' She thought. "That's not important now, is it?!"

"So, it isn't that harmful, then?" It was Tenten's turn to ask a question.

The Hokage made a quick glance at Hinata and said, "It won't be. But we can never be too sure, for that technique was only used once. The chakra system may still be disrupted, since there is no harmony with the mind, soul, and body."

"Wow granny! How come you know too much about a technique that isn't that popular?"

"Well that's not important, either." Tsunade answered quite coldly.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. But it doesn't seem to make any sense. Neither Naruto nor Hinata was the user of the jutsu. It was the enemy. How come Naruto didn't switch with the Octopus-guy?" Sakura asked.

"Good point, Sakura. But just like I said, this jutsu required two living bodies. Naruto might have killed the guy right after the seal was finished, so Naruto's soul was switched with someone who's still alive."

"And I'm thankful for that! I can't imagine myself living with tentacles all over my face! That's just gross! But then, why Hinata?" Naruto asked confused.

Tsunade gave him a teasing smirk and she gazed very quickly at Hinata that only Naruto noticed. "Do you really want me to answer that, Naruto?"

"I guess," Naruto felt his ears hot and looked away, scratching the tip of his nose. "T-That's also not important."

Tsunade grinned slyly.

"H-Hokage-sama, how do we, umm, switch back now that the caster of the jutsu is already dead?" Hinata's fingers continued to fidget uncontrollably.

Despite knowing fully well the situation, the leader of the Hidden Leaf couldn't help but to still feel amused looking at Hinata and Naruto acting so out of character. She had never imagined seeing an ultimately shy Naruto and a Hinata Hyuuga who was tactless and lacking social grace, but now they were standing right before her in her office. And though it was kind of entertaining, Tsunade admitted that the condition they were in would definitely affect their performance as shinobis. She sighed, not knowing how to answer Hinata's question.

"For now, you can start by searching for Kabuto." Tsunade answered.

"K-Kabuto..? Why him?" Naruto frowned at her weird response.

"So that he could Edo-Tensei that stupid squid back to life and make his decomposing ass undo the jutsu for you!" If this were a different situation, Tsunade would have laughed hard at her poorly thought out joke. They all just looked at her with their eyebrows raised in disbelief.

"Was that supposed to be a joke, Granny? Because that's definitely not funny!" Naruto barked.

"Oh yeah? Well then next time, use your head first before you rasengan someone in the head!" Tsunade was about to sprung up on her chair once again but decided to calm down. "I can't believe I'm having this kind of conversation with you. And you, I don't remember calling two Hyuugas in my office."

They followed where Tsunade's fierce eyes were darted and turned around to see Neji at the door.

"I'm sorry, Hokage-sama. I don't mean to interrupt. I just…" Neji hesitated for a moment, thinking that he should've done this privately with the Hokage alone, but he needed Naruto to know. He continued, seeing that the Hokage was waiting. "I would like to request something, Hokage-sama, if it won't be too much."

"N-Neji-niisan.." Hinata gave him a worried look.

"Huh? What's that, Neji?" Naruto asked curiously.

"If it's possible, Hokage-sama, I would like to ask if we could please hide this incident from Hinata-sama's father."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.

"Neji-niisan!" Hinata shyly protested.

"Why, what's wrong?" Tenten asked, curious of the nature of her teammate's request.

"My uncle, Hiashi-sama, only recently re-acknowledged Hinata-sama's strength to be the heiress of his position as the clan head. He had finally seen what Hinata-sama was really capable of. In fact, he is going to start training her tomorrow." Neji went on with his explanation.

"That's great, Hinata!" Naruto remarked, which caused Hinata to blush slightly.

"It is. But if Hiashi-sama learned that not only did she fail a mission, but was also compromised more than what he knew about, she might again lose his confidence and her chance to regain the position of an heiress."

"You mean, you want Naruto to act as Hinata? That's ridiculous!" Sakura said.

"Your uncle is not stupid, Neji. Even if you hide him the truth, he'll surely notice the difference when he starts training a fake Hinata tomorrow." Tsunade pointed out.

"Hey, I'm not a fake!" Naruto exclaimed.

"The first part of the training only requires a few sparring sessions with me. I'll make sure he won't notice."

"THAT is the just the first part, Neji. We don't even know how long the curse will last." Tsunade was starting to lose her temper again at how complicated the situation was becoming. "Why are you so persistent?"

"That's… That's because I believe in Hinata-sama's strength. I've seen how hard she worked just to be acknowledged by her own father. And I want to-" But Neji was cut-off.

"Neji-niisan!"

They turned their heads toward Hinata, who remained quiet until now. "Thank you, Neji-niisan. But it's alright. I really don't mind. It's enough that father acknowledged that I can be strong, too. Hanabi-chan, she's stronger, more decisive. I-I think that… my sister will make a better clan head." Hinata smiled softly and looked down trying to conceal the sadness that's bound to be evident in her face.

Neji's face remained apathetic as he watched his cousin's faltering confidence, his clenched fists stayed hidden under his sleeves.

The room stayed quiet for a while, until Naruto spoke up. "I'll do it!"

"What?!" Tenten and Sakura said in unison.

"Are you out of your mind? How will you pretend to be Hinata? You don't even know how to be Hinata. You can't even use the Byakugan!" Tenten blurted out.

"I don't care! Hinata worked hard for this, and she deserves a chance to reach her dream. That's why I will definitely help her!" Naruto said, remembering how he also wanted to be acknowledged and achieve his dream of becoming a Hokage.

"Naruto-kun.." Hinata felt her heart pounding, and despite the things that happened, she felt happy.

Tsunade shook her head as she felt another headache coming. She couldn't believe how complicated things were becoming- from her problem with the alliance to dispelling a jutsu. Now she also had to deal with the Hyuuga's familial issues. This was getting very troublesome, so she decided to finally wrap things up. "Why are you kids so damn hardheaded? Naruto, Hinata. I'll have Shizune research about this jutsu. Expect me to summon you once again, once she finds something out. And you, Neji.."

Neji stood in attention, expecting to be reprimanded by the world's strongest kunoichi.

"Do what you seem fit, BUT you didn't come to my office to ask my help about this." Tsunade gave him a look reserved only for someone like Orochimaru when he tried to destroy Konoha. It was fierce enough that, for a moment, Neji forgot he was capable of breathing.

"Y-Yes, Hokage-sama. Thank you. I am grateful." Neji said as he wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead.

"Good boy! Now, you're all dismissed." Tsunade grinned widely.

They looked at each other surprised at the sudden change in demeanor of the Hokage, but just shrugged it off and headed towards the exit where they met Shizune who just returned from the archive room.

"Oh you're leaving already?" Shizune said as she scanned the room checking for any cracks in the walls and pillars, or if Tsunade's table was still in one piece. "Oh great! No unneeded repair expenses today." She smiled happily as she closed the door. She walked towards Tsunade who's slumped over her table looking very exhausted.

"What's wrong, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked, handing her another document she found at the archive.

"It's just the start of the day and I'm pretty beat. What's this?"

"These are the descriptions of the stolen scrolls. It seems that Naruto and Hinata's curse wears off once the moon is full, which is two weeks from now." Shizune explained. "Nana-san lent it to me as thanks for the medicines I gave her for her blood pressure. I'm surprised to see that Jiraiya-sama's scroll was included. I thought you said The Third burnt it years ago?"

"I thought so, too." Tsunade frowned, scolding herself inwardly for forgetting that her late master was one closet pervert, too.

She could still remember waking up one night aghast when she saw herself in Jiraiya's body, and that her own body was running naked in one of the forest in the Land of Sound, where they stopped over for a D-class mission. Jiraiya refused to return her body, but did so when she threatened him that she would literally rip his balls off with her own hands if he didn't. Jiraiya was able to save his twin testicles in exchange for a few broken ribs, swollen eyeballs, and dislocated shoulders. Their sensei, the Third Hokage, confiscated the scroll, labeling it as a kinjutsu, because of the 'harm' it could cause the user. And by harm, he meant being violently castrated by a deranged female victim. According to Nana-san, the Third thought of burning the scroll, but saved it for 'future' (lewd) purposes.

Tsunade's fist was curled into a ball, but soon found herself smiling, remembering the old days. But the smile quickly disappeared and her heart suddenly felt heavy. Maybe she wouldn't mind falling victim to the jutsu once again, if that meant seeing her sensei and a very good friend once more.

* * *

oooxXxooo

"Thank you, Neji-niisan, for what you said back there." Hinata said as they threaded the quiet road of Konoha. Sakura and Tenten went their own ways, leaving the three of them to walk home together.

Neji glanced sideways to his cousin, who unfortunately was still inside Naruto's body, and a small smile crept to his face.

They had been walking in an awkward silence for a while now, with only a few small talks about the weather to break the ice. "I'll see you in the compound, Naruto." And with that, Neji walked off and left the two of them alone.

"Hey! Where the hell are you going?" Naruto shouted. "What's wrong with your cousin?"

Hinata blushed realizing that she was walking alone with Naruto, under a setting sun that looked incredibly romantic.

"Um, I would also like to thank you, Naruto-kun. You don't have to do this for me. I'm sure father would understand." Hinata said blushing a little more.

Naruto scratched the back of his head, feeling embarassed. "No need to thank me. I should be the one thanking you for saving me back there."

"I-I don't think I saved you, Naruto-kun. I only injured myself and fainted, and the switch really wouldn't happen if I didn't run after him by myself."

"No! No! If you didn't do it, I think I would've done something more stupid and have myself killed without getting any scrolls back. You're really brave, Hinata. I owe you another one. So let me do this. Somehow I feel responsible. Let me carry some of the weight for you."

"T-Thank you, Naruto-kun." Her face turned another shade of red that would make tomatoes jealous.

"But really, Hinata.." He paused. How his voice suddenly sounded forlorn caused Hinata to look at him in the eye. "You should stop risking your life for me."

Hinata just stared at him silently and bit her lip unsure of what to say. "Is it… Is it because you can't like me back?" She said in almost a whisper. Hinata compared it to receiving gifts from someone you knew you didn't have feelings for- you would soon feel the guilt itching, not wanting to receive anything anymore.

"Huh?" Naruto stared back.

"Ah, I-I'm sorry! I didn't say anything!" Hinata said, frantically waving her hands.

"Oh, alright." Naruto didn't say anything else.

They continued walking in silence, until they reached Naruto's house, where Hinata would stay while Naruto was pretending to be her at her own house.

"That's my room right there." Naruto pointed to the opened window on the second floor of an old building. "I didn't know this'll happen, so I didn't do any cleaning. Sorry."

"That's alright." Hinata said still looking a bit sad. "Thank you, Naruto-kun for letting me use your house."

"No problem. I'm going to stay in yours anyway." He grinned.

"I guess I'll go, then." Hinata marched towards the stairs and turned back hearing Naruto call her name.

"Hinata!"

"Y-Yes?"

"There are cup noodles in the cupboard near the sink. Feel free to eat them, if you like." Naruto closed the distance to them once again, close enough for him not to shout.

"Thank you, Naruto-kun. See you soon." She resumed her steps going to the stairs, when Naruto called her again.

"Hinata!"

"What is it Naruto-kun?"

"The stove, you have to turn the knob twice for it to work. I haven't bought a new one, yet, sorry." His grin still plastered perfectly in his face.

Hinata's lips curved upward, and she felt her ears warm.

"That's not a problem. Thank you, Naruto-kun."

She turned around, when Naruto called her one last time. This time it was louder and sounded more urgent.

"What is it, Naruto-kun?" Her smile slowly disappeared as she saw Naruto looking at her seriously. There was a slight tinge of red on his cheeks that Hinata couldn't understand the reason for.

"It's not like that." Naruto swallowed hard. "It's not like that at all."

"W-what do you mean?"

"It's not because I couldn't like you back. You are remarkably likable, Hinata. You are kind, pretty, and strong. I don't want you to risk your life for me because… I don't think I will be able to handle it. I don't want to see you getting hurt, and I don't think I can forgive myself if anything happens to you because of me. You're important…to me…that's what I'm trying to say, I guess." Naruto looked away from the intensity of Hinata's gaze and scratched the tip of his nose. "Okay, that's it! I have to go!"

Naruto ran so fast that in a matter of seconds, he disappeared from Hinata's line of sight. Hinata was left standing still at the bottom of the stairs, where she stayed for a few more minutes, pondering about what Naruto just said. She took one deep shaky breath and proceeded to the stairs. She almost fell, missing the third step, but it's fine. That moment was her happiest, and she wouldn't mind falling down the stairs and hurt herself just to know she wasn't dreaming.

He hadn't told her he liked her yet, but she was already on top of the world.

* * *

oooxXxooo

"Good evening, Otou-sama~~~ I just got home from the hospital. I was hurt pretty badly during the mission, but I'm fine now~~~"

Neji closed his eyes, shaking his head, at the gruesome sight of Naruto poorly impersonating his cousin. Naruto was exaggeratedly fidgety, and his voice, although sounding like Hinata, was like a cat trying to find a mate.

"I'm sorry, Hiashi-sama. Hinata-sama, she has… worms." He looked apologetically to the Hyuuga clan head darting him a questioning look.

"Worms?" Hiashi raised an eyebrow, but his face continued to be stern.

"Yes. He, I mean, she developed them from eating raw sea creatures during the mission." Neji swallowed hard, when Hiashi turned his gaze to Naruto.

"My stomach hurts~~ I think I need some rest. Goodnight, Otou-sama!"

And with that, Naruto rushed toward his new room with Neji following behind. The clan head missed the burning rage in Neji's eyes, for Hiashi turned around and called to the maid, telling her to cook the fish thoroughly.


	4. Super Cool!

A/N: Hello! I'm really, really sorry for the late update. I had written and revised this chapter multiple times, and though I already squeezed my brains out, I still couldn't find the right feel to it. I just hope that I made the right decision of choosing this version, and that you'll like it just like you did the previous chapters. Again, thank you so much for adding this story to your favorites, follows, and of course, for posting those wonderful reviews! They really cracked me up!

Many thanks!

* * *

4. Super cool!

* * *

"Umm, Hinata.." Naruto peeked open his left eye to look at the person sitting next to him.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" She answered, eyes still closed in meditation.

"I do understand that we need to do this pre-training training stuff with Neji,"

"A-Alright?"

"And I also know it's important, that's why we're here in the middle of the forest in wee hours, but one thing I don't understand is..." He stalled.

Hinata opened her eyes, feeling the concern in his voice. She glanced at Naruto, whose face appeared to be in a huge struggle trying to look calm. "Hmm?" She hummed.

"WHY ON EARTH DO THESE PEOPLE HAVE TO BE HERE?!" Naruto's finger pointed to a group of four people and one large dog sitting behind them around a campfire.

"Who? Us? Don't mind us. We just happen to pass by." Kiba waved his hand lazily. He rolled a barbecue stick he was holding with his right hand to make sure he toasted all the sides of his marshmallows.

"It's two in the morning, dog breath!" Naruto scowled.

"What's wrong with that?" Kiba answered nonchalantly as he inspected two toasted marshmallows, one of which he shared with Akamaru. The huge dog barked and wagged its tail.

"That's right, Naruto. It's not like we're here because we want to see you train." Tenten said, opening a bag of potato chips as she adjusted inside her sleeping bag.

"Damn right, you're not!" Naruto shouted sarcastically.

Sakura waved a hand across her face as she cried 'Hot! Hot! Hot!' after sipping a smoking cup of hot chocolate. "Would you stop shouting? You'll alert the guards. This is supposed to be secret training, right?"

"I know that, Sakura-chan! That's why I don't understand what you guys are doing here!"

"They will help you, Naruto."

Naruto turned his head to Neji, who himself appeared to be doubting his own words, his back rested on a nearby tree. "Kiba and Shino are here, because they've been in a team with Hinata-sama the longest. They can surely tell if your moves are not like Hinata-sama at all."

"Oh, Shino's here?" Naruto wandered his eyes and saw the insect user, who's been sitting beside Kiba the entire time.

"Is my jacket too dark?" Shino murmured.

"Sakura here brought you some chakra pills that can help stabilize your chakra so that you can properly do the Gentle Fist. That's after you learn the Byakugan, of course."

"Uh, thanks, Sakura-chan!" Naruto grinned. "How about Tenten?"

Neji's eyes gazed towards the girl in question. "She just happened to pass by."

"With a sleeping bag?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"Why? What's so weird about that?" Tenten smiled widely at Neji.

"Whatever!" Naruto sat back beside Hinata, who didn't seem to be bothered by the situation even a bit.

"Hinata-sama, let's start once you're done." Neji said.

"We can start now, Neji-niisan."

"Alright. You, Naruto," Neji called. "Observe carefully Hinata-sama's moves as we fight. You will find them useful on our training later this morning. Hiashi-sama will be watching, and his Byakugan surely won't miss anything odd. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

"Alright, popcorn's ready!" Kiba shouted.

"Shut up!"

Naruto watched as both Neji and Hinata assumed their fighting stance and started to attack and block each others' Gentle Fist. Hinata, being in another person's body, couldn't properly execute their clan's special technique, especially the Eight Trigrams. She did, however, landed a few strikes with her fingers, that, if she had been in her full potential, would make Neji lose his ability to flow chakra to both his arms.

"I see you had memorized the location of the tenketsu points. You perfectly hit the spots even without the Byakugan. Good job, Hinata-sama." Neji said.

"I-It was all thanks to you, Neji-niisan. You taught me well." Hinata lowered her head, embarrassed of being complimented by her genius cousin.

Neji's lips slightly curved upward. "Alright, let's start again. Naruto, watch closely. It will be your turn next."

"I know. Geez! Why do you have to be so bossy?" Naruto rested his chin on one of his hands as he silently observed the two Hyuugas.

'So she usually blocks with two arms.' He mused, as he watched how Hinata lifted her arms to block Neji's attacks. He watched her very intently, that he didn't notice that he was observing even the smallest details of her actions- how her lips pressed when she looked uncertain, how her brows would furrow when she had become too serious in the fight, and how her eyes went millimeters wider and her mouth hang open in a panic when she hit Neji with a pseudo-Gentle Fist that wasn't totally gentle, and made him fly about 500 meters from where he was standing.

"Neji-niisan!" Hinata immediately ran after her cousin.

'That's probably Kurama,' Naruto shook his head and made a lopsided smile. 'Graceful and strong.' He made sure to remember the words. Who would've thought that watching Hinata's moves would be this fun? He liked that strong, determined Hinata that he was seeing. If only she wasn't stuck inside that stupid body. Oh wait, that was his body.

"Isn't it amazing how people change over time?

"Sakura-chan." Naruto turned his head and watched as the pink-haired kunoichi found a seat beside him.

"I can still remember how Neji hated Hinata so much that he almost killed her in the chunin exam. Now, he's the first one to help her become their clan head. Don't you find it amazing?" A small smile formed in her lips.

"Well… Of course, I do." Naruto's eyes followed as Neji and Hinata walked back to the small training area they found at the forest. One of Neji's arms was around Hinata's shoulder for support, while the other guarded his torso.

"He's alright! He's alright!" They heard Hinata shouted to no one in particular, her voice shaking.

"Hey Naruto, doesn't it weird you out that you need to watch Hinata, but you're seeing your face instead?" Sakura giggled.

Naruto thought for a moment. "It did, at first. It's like watching a shadow clone with a totally different personality. Like an Oiroke no Jutsu that went terribly wrong! But the more I watch her, I mean that body, the more I start to see Hinata. Those gestures, the way it talks- I just know it's her. I don't need to imagine Hinata. I can see her clearly despite that ugly man-face." He grinned.

Sakura stared at him awestricken. To be honest, she was expecting some dumb answer from him, or at least to hear him rant. She couldn't believe those words came from Naruto's lips. They just appeared to be too melodramatic to be Naruto.

"Or maybe that it is time that changes people?" Sakura said in almost a whisper.

"What's that?"

All the awe she felt disappeared in an instant when Naruto looked back at her with his index finger jammed inside his nose.

"That's disgusting. How can you do that with Hinata's face?!" Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Naruto..." She leaned closer to him and whispered.

"Hm?" Their close proximity didn't bother Naruto like it used to.

"Hinata used to watch you all time, even when we we're kids. How does it feel now that you're the one watching her?" Sakura gave him a playful smile as she teased.

"W-What's that supposed to mean? Of course I have to watch her! I have to learn the Gentle Fist, so I can help her with her training!" Naruto reasoned, a blush slowly creeping across his face.

"You decided to help her even if you have to go through all these. I wonder why, hmm?" The smirk never left her face.

"I'm…" Naruto cleared his throat. "I'm just returning the favor!"

"That's it?" Sakura gave her a questioning look.

_'You're important to me.' _ He remembered saying to Hinata that afternoon.

"Neji-niisan, you're bleeding!" Naruto heard Hinata's voice from afar.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about, Sakura-chan." Naruto averted his eyes. "And aren't you supposed to help them? You're a medic-nin!"

"I guess you need more time, huh?" Sakura hung her head defeated, oblivious of the emergency that was Neji starting to bleed to death. "She really likes you, you know?" She said quietly, remembering the number of times she had to patch Hinata up because she got injured trying to save Naruto. She looked at him from the corner of her eyes when Naruto didn't respond. "I wonder how long Hinata's going to wait."

"What's that, Sakura-chan?"

"Neji-niisan, open your eyes!" He heard Hinata scream once more.

"Are you going deaf? Sheesh! Anyway, here are your chakra pills. Take one now before you train with Neji, and make sure to take another once you get back at the compound. I have to go." Sakura dusted her skirt off as she slowly stretched her legs to stand, Hinata's cries still left unnoticed.

"Where are you going? Aren't you going to help them?" Naruto asked.

"Sasuke and I will see Kakashi-sensei tomorrow, and I have to wake up early. I'm considering this a date." Her smile broadened from one ear to another.

Naruto gave her a taunting look. "I guess the only one who hasn't changed here is you. You're still following that moron."

"Oh, that also changed, too." Sakura winked at him before turning her back to Naruto.

"You'll regret choosing him over me one day!" Naruto joked.

Sakura stuck her tongue out and waved Naruto goodbye. "I'll see you around, Naruto. Watch out, you might just fall in love with 'yourself'." She teased.

Naruto grinned, watching Sakura's form disappear into the darkness of the forest. His gaze returned to Hinata who was still in panic trying to get her cousin to wake up, but Naruto seemed too mesmerized to notice. 'So she bites her fingers when she panics. That's cute…' He didn't notice he's being staring for too long, until he heard Tenten, who was already kneeling beside Hinata, yelled at him.

"Quit staring and help us, idiot!"

Naruto blinked realizing that he had spaced out. He lowered his head trying to hide a lopsided smile he didn't understand the reason for. He got up from the ground and dashed towards the person who currently possessed his body. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Hinata!"

* * *

"Concentrate your chakra in your eyes, Naruto-kun." Hinata said softly.

"I'm... trying.." Naruto gritted his teeth. All the calmness brought by the previous meditation completely lost as Naruto made a violent effort to activate the Byakugan.

"That's alright. Just calm down and imagine your chakra flowing through your eyes."

"Right... Chakra flowing through my eyes." He repeated. "This is really… difficult."

"You can do it, Naruto-kun. I believe in you."

His tensed face slightly lit up as he tried to hold back a smile. "Thank you, Hinata."

"You're welcome, Naruto-kun."

Naruto let out a small gasp upon getting a strange feeling around his eyes. "I-I think it's working! I can feel strong chakra in my eyes!"

"T-That's great!"

"I really can feel it! Hang on, hang on..."

Hinata held her breath as she watched Naruto's forehead wrinkled in concentration. Veins started to appear around Naruto's eyes as he shouted "Byakugan!"

"N-Naruto-kun..." Hinata blinked her eyes. She didn't doubt even the slightest that he could do it, but the fact that he was able to do it that fast amazed her. "You did it.. You activated the Byakugan! A-Amazing, Naruto-kun!"

"Wow... So, this is the Byakugan.." Naruto blinked his eyes. "You have such amazing eyes, Hinata! This is so great!" Naruto took his time marveling his newly-learned jutsu. Without moving his head, he could see a herd of wild bears eighty meters away to his right. Fifty meters to his left was a swarm of killer bees buzzing their way thru the forest. But what really caught his attention was eighty meters behind them- a twenty-four hour hot spring pool where a group of young ladies were currently swimming naked.

"Super cool!" Naruto was ecstatic.

Hinata smiled as she watched him use her eyes, but failed to notice that he sniffed back a trail of blood that dripped down from his nostril.

"Alright! Now, Hinata, I'm ready for the Gentle Fist!" Naruto tried to imitate Neji's stance, when he suddenly heard a low growling sound coming from Hinata's stomach.

"I-I'm sorry!" Hinata could feel her face warm with embarrassment. If the ground would decide to open and swallow someone alive, that would have been the best time. But it didn't happen. "I-I forgot about dinner."

Naruto laughed. "Why don't we eat while you teach me the Gentle Fist? I brought cinnamon rolls for snack." He offered.

"O-Okay." Hinata answered, face still red from embarrassment, but still joined Naruto as he sat down under a broad-leaved tree.

Hinata paused for a while before taking another bite of the cinnamon roll that Naruto brought. "I-Is there something in my face, Naruto-kun?" She blushed upon noticing that Naruto's white eyes had been fixed on her intently.

"Oh!" Naruto scratched his cheek with a finger. "Sorry. I'm just trying to memorize the way you eat. You know, this might be useful one day, since I'll be staying at your house for a while."

"Hmm, that's very clever Naruto-kun."

He chuckled. "Do you know that you chew like ten times before you swallow your food?"

"Really?" She said, surprised that Naruto had been watching keenly. "I-I didn't notice." She watched him show off that carefree smile, and her face turned red. "I-I hope Neji-niisan's okay." Hinata continued, trying to change the subject. But she was indeed worried about her cousin, who she accidentally incapacitated with a rasengan-like punch a few minutes ago, thanks to Naruto's body's huge chakra reserves. She could still remember how he groaned in pain as Akamaru carried him to the hospital.

"He'll be fine. Don't worry. He's Neji after all. He'll be out in no time."

"I'm sorry. Because of that, you're stuck here with just me to teach you."

"What are you talking about? You're doing great! And you have the patience of a saint, which is good, by the way. You know I'm not a fast learner." Naruto laughed.

"T-Thank you." Hinata gave him a shy smile. She chewed on the last piece of her cinnamon roll and stared at her calloused hands. "Y-You see, the Gentle Fist is just like any taijutsu. It's just that, you have to concentrate an amount of chakra to the tips of your fingers, or your palms, Naruto-kun." She explained.

"So it's like creating small rasengans?"

"A bit, but you don't release the chakra until your fingers are in contact with the enemy's body, like you're going to inject the chakra to their tenketsu points using your fingers."

"Oh. Sounds like a really difficult jutsu." He smirked.

"It is. That's why I'm really doing my best to master it. I don't want to disappoint anyone." A small bitter smile formed on her lips, which Naruto didn't fail to notice.

'_That's because I believe in Hinata-sama's strength. I've seen how hard she worked just to be acknowledged by her own father.' _

Naruto remembered Neji's words from yesterday, and he felt a tug deep inside his chest. He reached out his hand and picked up a small crumb that clung onto Hinata's cheek. "You won't. I'm sure of that." The smile on his face was as wide as the Valley of the End. "Are you ready to teach me the Gentle Fist, Hinata?"

She paused for a moment, surprised of what Naruto just did. "Y-Yes I am!" Hinata felt a new kind of excitement she hadn't felt before.

* * *

"I am really sorry about your shoulder, Hinata." Naruto scratched the back of his head, as the two of them walked side by side back to the main roads of Konoha, heading to the Hyuuga compound.

"It's fine, Naruto-kun. Don't worry about it, although I might not be able to use this arm for any jutsus for a while." HInata gently massaged her right shoulder that Naruto juken-ed with his fingers.

Naruto sheepishly poked the tips of his index fingers together. "I'm so sorry.."

"Ah! I didn't mean it that way. Sorry, Naruto-kun. But really, I'm not hurt anywhere." She gave him a gentle smile. "It's really impressive that you were able to learn the basics of Gentle Fist in just one night. I remember training for the same technique for an entire month. You're chakra control is amazing, Naruto-kun."

Naruto made a nervous laugh. "Well, I did learn something from my training at Mount Myoboku. But still, my movements are slow, and I still fail to hit the tenketsu points perfectly."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. Neji-niisan will be there to help you."

"Speaking of your cousin, what's taking him so long? It's almost time for my training. Shouldn't he be out from the hospital?"

They rounded the corner of the street that lead to Hinata's house and stopped at the gate of the compound, where they were met by Hinata's bodyguard.

"Ko-san!" Hinata suddenly blurted out, too happy to see him for the first time after she got back from the mission that she forgot that she appeared as Naruto to Ko.

Thinking that she was Naruto, Ko looked at her questioningly.

"Uh, I mean, Hey, Ko-san! D-Dattebayo…." Hinata said awkwardly.

"Good morning, Ko-san~~!" Naruto immediately cut off to divert the older Hyuuga's attention. "Why are you up so early in the morning?"

"I'm always up this early, Hinata-sama." Ko's voice was stern.

"Oh, right." Naruto forced a laugh. "Is something wrong?"

"I was looking everywhere for you. Tenten-san came here a few minutes ago, saying that Neji was in the hospital. Do you know what happened?" Ko also sounded worried.

"N-No. I was training with Naruto-kun." Beads of sweat started to appear on his forehead.

"Hmm I see." Ko gave Hinata a skeptic look. "Please hurry, then. Your father is also looking for you." Ko turned around and walked inside the compound.

"I guess, this is it. I'll see you later!" Naruto whispered to Hinata, and he disappeared behind the wooden door that separated the Hyuuga clan from the rest of Konoha.

Hinata only nodded. She clutched the fabric of her orange shirt, anxiety building up inside her as she thought on how the training would go without her cousin Neji to back Naruto up.

* * *

"Good morning, Otou-sama~." Naruto walked into the courtyard and greeted the Hyuuga clan leader, who only nodded back to him.

"I see your feeling better now." His cold eyes watched Naruto closely, remembering how awfully fidgety his daughter was last night. 'That dewormer must be really effective.' He nodded to himself inwardly. "Good. Do you know what happened to Neji?"

"Unfortunately, I don't, Otou-sama~. I only found out this morning." Naruto said, struggling to choose the right words to sound like Hinata. "I-I'm just hoping that he didn't catch the worms, too~~~" Naruto smiled inwardly, thinking of how Neji could painfully payback for the trouble he went through by drinking a whole bottle of dewormer last night.

'Was it that contagious?' Hiashi's eyes darkened, unconsciously touching his stomach. "I guess we'll just have to do something about your training, then."

Naruto's eye brightened, thinking that the clan leader would actually suspend the training. "That's right. It's such a shame that Neji-niisan isn't here."

"We don't have any other choice. You'll have to train with Hanabi."

"That's right, Otou-san, we should postpone the training- wait, what?" Naruto had his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"She just came back from a mission, but we have to start your training as the heiress, Hinata. She'll replace Neji." Hiashi explained.

"Isn't she supposed to be tired or something?" Naruto thought out loud.

"What's that?"

"Uh, I mean, Otou-sama, Hanabi is probably tired from the mission. She'll only lose."

"I will definitely not lose."

Naruto turned around and found Hanabi at the entrance of the courtyard. 'Whoa, so this is Hinata's sister. She's all grown up!'

Hanabi's pupil-less eyes stared coldly back at him. Her shoulder-long hair bounced as she walked into the empty ground. "I can still fight you and win, Onee-san."

"B-But.." Naruto swallowed hard. He thought of praying for Neji to miraculously wake up and go home, so he could train with him, instead of the not-so-little Hanabi, who looked like she wouldn't hold anything back.

"Why, are you scared, Onee-san? You can just give up, you know." Hanabi jeered as she raised one eyebrow.

'Give up?!' That was one of Naruto's most hated words, next to the word 'dewormers' and 'laxatives'. "Just shut up and fight me." He assumed the Gentle Fist stance, challenging Hanabi to attack him.

"It's settled then." Hiashi said, ignoring Naruto's choice of words. "Let the match begin!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the forest.

"What do you think this is?" One of the forest guards poked at a huge cocoon-like figure that was resting near an extinguished campfire.

"I don't know. Looks like a huge… insect or something." The other guard said.

"What should we do about it? Should we report it to Hokage-sama?"

"It doesn't look dangerous, but we can never be too sure. Come on, help me carry it."

"A-Alright. Are you sure this won't bite?" He hesitated.

"Don't be such a coward. It's just a- Gaaahh!" The other shinobi sat down to pick up the unknown creature. when it suddenly moved, to his surprise. The part which appeared to be the head cracked open, revealing Aburame Shino who just woke up. He slightly turned his gaze sideways and realized that he was now all alone with just the two forest guards.

"They have completely forgotten about me." He said in his deep, monotonous voice.


End file.
